Summary
- Eiichiro Oda's early one-shots, such as Wanted!, influenced the concept of pirate bounties and wanted posters in One Piece.
- Oda's previous works, like Wanted! And God's Gift for the Future, showcased his talent for humor and fantastical storytelling, elements that are also present in One Piece.
- The swordsmanship ranking in the one-shot Monsters influenced the storyline of Roronoa Zoro's quest to become the world's greatest swordsman in One Piece.
Nowadays, author Eiichiro Oda is known around the world for his masterpiece, One Piece, which is one of the best and most influential manga series of all time. What’s even more surprising is that he is still releasing new chapters of this thrilling pirate adventure even to this day. But everybody has to start somewhere, and that’s also true for Oda.
Before beginning work on One Piece, Oda had already written six one-shots. These were: Wanted!, God’s Gift for the Future, Ikki Yako, Monsters and Romance Down Versions 1 & 2. All of these one-shots shaped One Piece one way or another and, with the recent release of Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation on Netflix, it’s the perfect time to analyze how they influenced the beloved series.
22 Unresolved Mysteries In One Piece
With a series with as epic of proportions as One Piece, it comes as no surprise that bits of series lore still remains a mystery to fans.
7 Bounties & Wanted Posters
Wanted!
In 1992, Eiichiro Oda wrote and illustrated his first manga, titled Wanted!. This is a story about bounty hunters and gunslingers that takes place in a western setting. While gunplay is not something that he would implement regularly in One Piece, there’s a big element about this one-shit that would play a key role in his flagship series, and it is right there in the name.
Wanted! Is all about people with bounties on their heads and the posters that inform bounty hunters about their rewards. This would later inspire the pirate bounties and their respective wanted posters that the Marines issue in One Piece. Because of this, some of the characters from this one-shot, like Wild Joe and Gill Bastar, have made cameos in the One Piece anime.
6 Fantasy Comedy
Wanted!, God’s Gift For The Future
While One Piece is obviously an action-adventure shōnen manga, it stands out from its contemporaries thanks to its humor. This is a very funny series, to the point that it could be considered a comedy. And Oda practiced his skills with his previous works.
Humor is a big element of his early one-shots, especially in Wanted! And God’s Gift For The Future. These stories not only make readers laugh, but also feature fantastical characters, like ghosts or even God himself. Oda knows how to create a fascinating world and use it both to move the plot forward and to create funny scenarios.
5 Swordsmanship Ranking
Monsters
Swordsmen are a crucial element of Monsters, one of Eiichiro Oda’s most popular one-shots. The moment the story begins, readers are introduced to Cyrano, who is considered one of the best swordsmen in the world. At the end of the story, it is revealed that Ryuma is King himself, who’s believed to be the #1 best swordsman.
One Piece: 7 Strongest Characters In The Final Saga
The Final Saga of One Piece will have the biggest names competing against each other.
This is very similar to a big plot point in One Piece. Roronoa Zoro (who seems to have been inspired by Ryuma) wants to become the world’s greatest swordsman. In order to do so, he’ll have to defeat Dracule Mihawk (who seems to have been inspired by Cyrano). On top of that, Oda would later make the plot of Monsters and Shimotsuki Ryuma himself canon to the One Piece story.
4 Mythological Creatures
Ikki Yako, Monsters, Romance Dawn V2
The world of One Piece is fantastical in nature. Not just because of the superpowers granted by the Devil Fruits, but also because of its incredible flora and fauna. Actual creatures from mythological tales exist in this world without needing a Devil Fruit. There are dragons (with both western and eastern designs), krakens, the mighty Sea Kings, and many more.
It’s evident that Oda has a fascination with these types of fantastical creatures, as they’ve been featured in some of his early one-shots. Ikki Yako is about cannibalistic demons, Romance Dawn V2 has a Roc bird, and Monsters exists mainly because he wanted to draw a giant dragon being decapitated.
3 Strong Female Side Characters
Monsters, Romance Dawn V1, Romance Dawn V2
There’s a lot to be said about the way Oda designs and writes female characters in One Piece. But there’s no denying that women in that series stand out from other ones in the industry, whether it’s because of their striking designs or fierce personalities. Female characters like Nami, Nico Robin, and Boa Hancock have gone on to become some of the most iconic ones of all time.
When reading Oda’s one-shots, it’s apparent that he always had in mind the idea of a strong female character that was never meant to be a romantic interest. Flare from Monsters, Silk from Romance Dawn V1, and Ann from Romance Dawn V2 are perfect examples of this. It seems like they were sources of inspiration for Nami, in both design and personality.
2 Dumb Protagonist With A Heart Of Gold
God’s Gift For The Future, Monsters, Romance Dawn V1, Romance Dawn V2
Eiichiro Oda experimented with different protagonist archetypes during his early career. But he obviously decided that there was one that would work the best for the type of story he was interested in telling: an absent-minded protagonist who doesn’t hesitate to help others when it’s necessary.
This can be seen in Bran from God’s Gift ForThe Future and Ryuma from Monsters. Even when he created an earlier version of Luffy for both Romance Dawn prototypes, he had the same cheerful personality that he still has to this day. Oda just needed to flesh him out a little bit more before creating the final version of the character for One Piece that everybody loves.
1 A Story About Pirates
Romance Dawn V1, Romance Dawn V2
Needless to say, both Romance Dawn one-shots greatly influenced One Piece, as they are basically the prototype versions of this manga. In the author notes of the second volume, Eiichiro Oda explains that he wanted to write a manga about pirates ever since he was in high school. Thus, he took his time to slowly build what readers know today as One Piece.
There are a lot of elements in his flagship series that he first experimented with in those prototypes. In Romance Dawn V1 Crescent-Moon Gally mentions the Best 3, which seems to have been an earlier version of the Yonko AKA The Four Emperors. And while Oda would later ditch the concept of Peace Mains and Morganeers, he would still play with the concept of good and evil pirates in the final version of One Piece. Oda obviously thought a lot about the pirates that would inhabit the world of his long-running manga, and One Piece ended up benefiting from all his clever ideas.
One Piece
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Studio
- Toei Animation
